Hippopotomus
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος), is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) After the elephant, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe. The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and West African mangrove swamps where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land. Hippos spend most of their days wallowing in the water or the mud, with the other members of their pod. The water serves to keep their body temperature down, and to keep their skin from drying out. With the exception of eating, most of hippopotamuses' lives —from childbirth, fighting with other hippos, and reproduction— occur in the water. Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 8 kilometers (5 mi), to graze on short grass, their main source of food. They spend four to five hours grazing and can consume 68 kilograms (150 lb) of grass each night. Like almost any herbivore, they will consume many other plants if presented with them, but their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass, with only minimal consumption of aquatic plants. Hippos have (rarely) been filmed eating carrion, usually close to the water. There are other reports of meat-eating, and even cannibalism and predation.The stomach anatomy of a hippo is not suited to carnivory, and meat-eating is likely caused by aberrant behavior or nutritional stress. The diet of hippos consists mostly of terrestrial grasses, even though they spend most of their time in the water. Most of their defecation occurs in the water, creating allochthonous deposits of organic matter along the river beds. These deposits have an unclear ecological function. Because of their size and their habit of taking the same paths to feed, hippos can have a significant impact on the land they walk across, both by keeping the land clear of vegetation and depressing the ground. Over prolonged periods hippos can divert the paths of swamps and channels. Battle against the White Rhino A female hippo is walking over the grasslands on her way back to the watering hole after a long nights feeding. Trailing behind her is her young calf, whining at his mother for food. Meanwhile in the distance a male rhino is lying down in the bushes, napping. He hears the hippo calfs whining and looks up, spotting the female hippo. Due to his poor eyesight he mistakes the hippo for another bull rhino and gets to his feet, shaking the dirt off his body. He puts his head down and charges at the hippo, who is blistfully unaware of the inraged rhino. She hears the pounding of his footsteps and turns to see the massive beast charging right at her and her calf. She nudges her calf out of the way and charges at the rhino. The rhino realises that it is not charging another rhino and stops in his tracks. The hippo however is undetered and rams into the rhino, knocking it back slightly. It whips its head around and slams its horn into the hippos thigh. The hippo roars in pain and grabs the rhinos shoulder blade in its huge jaw, crushing the shoulder blade and leaving a huge wound in the rhino's side. The rhino grunts at the pain and smashes its head into the hippo untill it releashes the rhinos shoulder. The rhino limps away into the bushes and the mother hippo beckons to her calf to return to her. The small animal peeks its head out of the bushes it was hiding behind and slinks over to it's mother. She rubs head with her youngster and they make thier way back to the wateringhole. Winner Hippopotomus Experts opinion While the White Rhino was bigger and faster it was the powerful jaws of hippo that won it the day. Battle against the Light Fury Category:Animals Category:African Animals Category:Herbivores Category:Vertebrates Category:Mammals Category:Water Animals Category:Semi-aquatic animals Category:River Creatures Category:Lake Creatures